


what was ours still will be

by KINGRACETRACK



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Breakup, Date Night, M/M, Sad, date, i tried to make it sad but it didn’t quite work, sorry in advance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25719343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KINGRACETRACK/pseuds/KINGRACETRACK
Summary: Davey prepares for his date with Jack, but it takes an unexpected turn when Jack has something too tell him, something that will break his heart and leave him broken
Relationships: David Jacobs & Jack Kelly, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	what was ours still will be

**Author's Note:**

> okay so the way my mind worked for this story is it’s 92sies davey but livesies jack, les and albert 
> 
> it just works better bc 92sies davey is baby

Davey sits on top of the hill waiting for Jack to arrive. He stares down at his watch, he’s 10 minutes late. His eyes move down to the picnic he has laid out for them, Jack’s favourite foods that Medda helped Davey pay for. 

The sound of footsteps approaching makes Davey lift his head, almost quick enough to snap his neck. “Finally, thought you weren’t going to show.” he laughs

He stands and goes to kiss Jack but he turns away, leaving Davey confused and worried. He can see somethings wrong with Jack, he isn’t smiling and his eyes look like they’ve been crying.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” 

Jack walks over to the picnic and just stands over it. As he notices it’s all his favourite, his heart begins to ache. It’s a pain he’s never felt before, but he knows what’s causing it. 

“Jack?” 

“It’s over.” Jack puts bluntly. 

“What? What’s over?” Deep down Davey knows, but he doesn’t want to even think of that.

“This. Us. We’re done.” 

At this moment Davey feels his heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. Sharp enough to stab at his chest. The pain is unbearable but he hides it the best he can. Jack begins to walk back where he came from but as he passes Davey, he grabs his arm.

“You- you’re kidding right?” 

All he gets in response from Jack is a look down at the contact between the two. He yanks his arm away after a few seconds, as if he’s taking in the last touch. 

“Why? We were fine yesterday What’s changed?” Davey’s voice begins to crack as he feels tears spring to the surface. 

Jack turns away, afraid to look at him as it just makes this more painful.

“Answer me!” Davey shouts. 

“It’s not working, okay?” 

Davey blinks quickly as he refuses to let the tears fall. “No, give me a better reason.” 

Again, he doesn’t answer. 

“You can’t just do this and-“

“I‘m sorry.” Jack buts in. He gives Davey one more look before walking away with his head hanging low. 

Davey’s left standing on top of the hill with the picnic he made for the two of them. He watches as Jack walks away, slowly walking out of sight. A million emotions run through him at once; Anger, pain, confusion, all of it hitting together makes him feel sick. 

Slowly, he turns around and begins to pack the stuff up. His whole body feels weak as if he has no energy or strength left in him. A constant throb in his head and lump in his throat arrives as he grits his teeth and holds back every urge to break down on the way home. 

As he walks through his front door his mum greets him with a warm smile, “Just in time, dinner’s ready!”

“I’m not hungry.” He speaks in a rasp voice from holding back tears the whole walk here. 

He pushes past her and makes his way to his room, shutting the door behind him. He heads straight for his bed and sits on the edge. Part of him hopes Jack will burst through that door at any given second and take it all back. The other just hopes he’s going to wake up from this awful dream. 

As he stares out to the wall infront of him, tears begin to build up in his eyes and without hesitating they fall one after another down his cheeks, enough falling to fill a waterfall. 

His body goes limp as he falls down on his bed, his body curls up as he grabs a pillow and uses it to muffle his cries. At this point his hands are shaking, from anger too. Jack and Davey were doing so well, they had finally worked up the courage to tell eachother how they feel weeks back, a couple days in Jack got inpatient and asked Davey to be his boyfriend. Ever since then they’ve been inseparable. From Selling papes together to spending the night out on Davey’s fire escape watching the stars. Whatever changed Jack’s mind has come over night as just yesterday they had agreed to go on that date. 

Hours go by and Davey remains in the same position, his pillow now soaking wet and his head pounding. The crying and hyperventilating begins to make him lightheaded and feel sick to the stomach but he can’t bring himself to stop. All that’s going through his mind is how he’s lost the thing he loved most. 

Next thing he knows, Davey’s woken up to the sun shining right into his face. He begins to realise he must’ve fallen asleep as he looks down and notices he’s still in the clothes from yesterday with his shoes on still.

The pounding headache from yesterday is still there, just 100x worse. His eyes hurt and feel heavy, too heavy to keep open. The realisation that it wasn’t a dream hits him, making the familiar stabbing chest pains return. Grabbing the cover, he pulls it up over his head to escape from the light and anyone who knocks on his door. 

Over at the lodging house the guys are getting ready for the day whilst Jack sits in his bed, his mind far away from reality. 

Albert walks up to Jack’s bed whilst putting on their suspenders. “Hey, where’s Davey? He’s normally here by now.”

They get nothing in response as Jack is miles away. 

“Hey?” They hit his leg

“Hmm?” Jack looks up, his eyes red and puffy

“Oh man, what happened to you?” 

“Didn’t sleep” He answers bluntly 

“Okay.. Where’s Davey?”

Jack shrugs and looks away from Albert. His dead reply gives them nothing else to work with so they go and grab their bag before heading out with the rest of the newsies. 

As the guys line up for their papers, there’s whispers about Jack, about how something is up with him. The street goes silent as Jack arrives with his money in his hand ready. 

“What?” He shouts, sensing the awkwardness from the newsies. “No one’s got anything to say?”

As everyone stays silent, Jack makes his way to the front of the line. 

“usual” he mutters 

As soon as he has his papers he heads out to the streets, not waiting for anyone else. As time goes by Jack tries to keep Davey out of his mind. 

“Wait up!” 

Jack rolls his eyes as he hears Albert shout from the other side of the street. 

“What do you want?” He turns to see them running to catch up with him. 

“What’s going on with you?” 

“Nothing.” Jack continues to walk off. 

“There you are!” Les can be heard Coming from the same direction Albert came from. 

“What’s a guy gotta do to get a break around here!” Jack rips his hat off in anger. 

Albert furrows his eyebrows as Les begins asking about Davey. “What happened yesterday?”

“Nothing.” 

“Then why hasn’t he left his room since he came back yesterday.” 

There’s a hint of sadness in Jack’s eyes, no matter how hard he tries to hide it, it’s still there. 

“So?” Jack turns again and begins to walk away. 

“So? Do you not care? Something is wrong with him and I think it’s because of you!” 

Jack takes a step closer to Les, looking down on him. “Don’t start with me kid.” 

At this point Albert steps in between the two of them, pushing Jack away once they notice Les flinch. “What has gotten into you, Jack?”

Again, Jack doesn’t give a reply and Albert’s fed up of it. They nudge his shoulder harshly to get an answer from him. 

“We broke up! Is that what you want to hear? We broke up.” Jack turns around again to hide the tears that are forming in his eyes. 

“Jack-“ Albert stands in shock, looking down at Les who looks like he’s about to break down in tears. 

“You can’t-“ Les whimpers as he runs around Jack to face him. “You can’t!” 

“Save it kid.” Jack speaks softly but refuses to look down at him. 

Jack has always been like family to him. The fact he was dating his brother made him happy, made him feel safe. It completed their family. 

“Why? What happened?” Albert asks, not wanting to push it. 

“It wasn’t working out.” Jack shrugs as he grips the papers in his hands. “I gotta go, papes ain’t gonna sell themselves” 

With that he’s gone, leaving Albert and Les alone. Crouching down to his level, Albert places their hand on his shoulder and gives him a sweet smile. 

“It’ll be okay kid. They’re probably just going through a rough spot. Let’s go sell some papes.” 

They stand and hold their hand out for Les to take as they go to sell papers together. 

After they’ve sold them all, Albert goes home with Les to see Davey. Les sits on their shoulders the whole way, touching ever tree they pass and picking off flowers. 

He picks a red flower and places it in Albert’s hair. “It’s the same colour!” He cries out, earning a laugh from Albert. 

Once they arrive, they knock on the door of the Jacobs’ family home and wait for an answer. The door swings open to reveal a woman in her mid 30s with blonde hair down to her shoulders. 

“Hey mom, this is Albert! Albert, my mom!” 

Albert reaches their hand out to greet her, “Pleasure to meet you. Is Davey about?” 

She gives a worrying look, “He’s in his room. He hasn’t come out all day. Can you help him? He won’t talk to me” She gives Albert’s hand a squeeze. 

“I’ll do my best Mrs Jacobs.” 

Giving her a reassuring smile, they walk towards the door she points at and knocks lightly on the door. 

“Davey? Hey Davey it’s me, Albert.” 

They press their ear against the door, hoping  
to hear something. There’s nothing but silence. 

“Davey i’m coming in okay?” They wait another second before opening the door.

As they walk in their eyes fall to his body that’s curled up in his bed. 

“Davey-“ Once Albert closes the door behind them, they walk over to his bed and kneel beside them. 

With one arm on the bed to keep him up and the other hand on Davey’s head, stroking his hair, he whispers softly. “You okay buddy?” 

For the first time today, Davey opens his eyes. He squints, adjusting to the light. A small smile spreads on his face at the sight of Albert. 

“How you doing?” Albert’s voice is gentle, “Jack told me..” 

At the mention of Jack, his face drops again and he turns around to face the wall. 

“I’m so sorry Davey.” 

“Did he tell you why?” His voice begins to break. 

Albert takes a deep breath and shakes his head, “No”

There’s silence for a few minutes, just Albert comforting him by playing with the hair on the back of his head. 

“Was I not enough?” Davey turns around and sits up on the edge of his bed. 

Albert stands and sits next to him, “Of course you are!” 

“I don’t know what I did wrong.” Davey looks down at his hands as he feels his chest begin to hurt again. 

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong. I’m sure he’ll come around soon.” 

“No, you don’t get it.” Davey looks up at Albert with tears in his eyes, “He meant it. there’s no going back.” 

“I don’t know what happened, I don’t know what’s going through his mind but this is doing you no good.” Albert looks around the room at the curtains closed and the tear stained shirt he wore to the date. “I know you’re hurting, i wish i could take your pain away but staying in here all day really isn’t doing you any good.”

Albert takes Davey’s hand into theirs to show support. They sit in silence for a while, with Davey’s head on Albert’s shoulder. Albert just lets him cry it out and it makes Davey feel better having someone there. 

“Why don’t we go for a walk? Get some fresh air.” They nudge his shoulder to make him laugh a bit as they’ve stopped crying. 

“You should get back to the lodging house, it’s getting late.” Davey sits back and turns his body to face Albert

“No i don’t have to go, I can stay longer.” 

“It’s okay,” Davey smiles, “You’ve cheered me up, you always know how to make things better Albie.” 

Albert gives him a concerned look. 

“I promise, you can go. I’ll go for a walk, clear my head and be ready for work tomorrow.” 

“Yeah? You promise I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

Davey nods

“Okay then. Give the lodging house a call if you need me okay?” Albert stands with open arms. 

“I will.” Davey wraps his arms around Albert’s waist, being embraced in the hug.

“Take care buddy, see you tomorrow.”

Once Albert leaves, Davey changes into fresh clothes and heads out for a walk. With his hands in his pockets he walks the streets of New York trying to think of anything but Jack. 

A whistle behind him makes him jump. As he turns, he sees the Delancey brothers heading towards him. 

“Well well well, if it isnt Davey boy.” Oscar walks around him. 

“Get lost.” He walks away but just ends up getting backed up into an alleyway. 

“Where’d you think you’re going?” Morris grunts through gritted teeth. “Stay put!”

“You know,” Oscar places his arm on the wall behind Davey, trapping him “We’ve been trying to find your little boyfriend. Get back at him for the other day. You happen to know where he is?”

“No. He’s not my boyfriend.” For a second, Davey feels a weight on his chest. It was the first time he’d even processed that Jack is no longer his boyfriend. 

“Of course, and the sky is green!” The Delancey brothers laugh. 

“There is one way we can get back at him without actually hurting him.” Morris turns to Oscar, “Hurting the ones he loves.” 

“That’s a good idea, and it just so happens we have one of them here!” Oscar brings out his brass nuckles from his pockets which frightens Davey. 

He tries to escape and run but Morris is too quick and pushes him up against the wall again. He doesn’t leave it there, he brings his knee up to Davey’s stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. 

“We told you to stay still.” Morris speaks sternly. 

“I think he needs to learn his lesson, don’t you?” Oscar doesn’t even wait for a response from his brother, he brings his fist up to Davey’s cheek, almost knocking him straight into the ground. 

“Please-“ he begs, feeling so much pressure on his head. 

“What was that? Did you hear something.” 

“No, didn’t hear anything.” Morris smirks as he begins to repeat the action of his brother. 

With another punch or two, Davey is on the floor curled up in a ball. His head in his hands to protect himself whilst he gets kicked everywhere. His cries are muffled and silenced out by the Delancey‘s laughs. 

“Please-“ Davey whimpers one more time. 

Oscar kneels down next to him and slaps his cheek twice, “You tell your boyfriend this is what he gets when he messes with us.” 

With that they disappear into the dark street, leaving Davey crying on the floor of a dirty alleyway. It takes him a few minutes to gather his strength to stand and begin to make his way home. 

The whole way there he holds onto his ribs which feel like they’re broken. All he can think of is how they wanted to hurt Jack. Even after breaking up, his mind is still on Jack and wanting him to be safe.

When he gets home he quietly goes to the bathroom and cleans up his bloody face. He stares into the mirror and begins to sob uncontrollably. He promised Albert he’d go to work tomorrow, but how can he when he looks like this? 

Once he cleans himself up and stops crying and hyperventilating, he makes his way to his bedroom to try get some sleep ready for tomorrow. 

The next day Jack is roaming the streets, frustrated because no one is taking a single paper from him. His mind is so clouded that it’s stopping him from selling as well as usual. As he turns the corner he bumps into someone, making him lose his grip on the papers. 

“I’m so sorry!” Jack apologises as he bends down to pick up his papers before even looking up at the person. 

When he stands he sees it’s Davey and his eyes go straight to the bruises on his face and the cut on his lip. His eyes fall to where Davey is holding onto his side in pain. 

“What happened to you?” He touches Davey’s arm but he flinches as the pain shoots through his shoulder

“You don’t have to pretend you care.” Davey starts to walk off limping but Jack holds his hand out and grabs Davey’s

“Ow! Get off me!” He cries out in pain and hunches over, letting his arm hang. 

“Davey, what the hell happened to you?!” 

“The Delancey brothers.” Davey whispers as he looks up at Jack, tears in his eyes from the pain. 

The expression on Jacks face changes from concern to anger in a matter of seconds. He grips his papers tight and grits his teeth. 

“Don’t.” Davey says harshly, earning a confused look from Jack. “You don’t get to act all protective now. We’re over i don’t need you to feel sorry for me.” 

“Davey-“

“No! They did this because they wanted to get back at you. You! Yet they hurt me!” 

“Don’t you see?” Jack grips his hat in frustration, “This is why we can’t be together! You’re at risk with me around!”

It all begins to piece itself together in Davey’s mind. “This is why you broke up with me isnt it?”

He doesn’t get an answer from Jack, just a blank stare. 

“Answer me!” 

“Yes! and No!” His voice is raspy

“What do you mean?” Jack just looks at him, almost begging with his eyes not to make him say it. “Jack?” 

“Your father-“ he begins but takes a deep breath before continuing, “he doesn’t want us together and told me to end things.”

A whole other type of pain hits Davey’s chest. His own father didn’t approve of his relationship and made his boyfriend break up with him. 

“You’re joking right? Because if you are then that’s sick.”

“No, i wish i was.”

Rage fills Davey but he knows that if he acts out in anyway he’ll just get in more pain as he’s pretty sure he’s dislocated his shoulder. 

“What exactly did he say?” He walks over to the wall next to where Jack stands. 

“You’re too distracted, you’re not making enough money.” Jack sighs, he hates that he has to break this to him. “He- he threatened that he’d take you away from here, somewhere where i’m not.” 

“Fuck him! Let’s go! Me and you, let’s go somewhere no one can find us!” Davey puts on a smile to hide the pain from what Jack’s just told him. 

“What? No! We couldn’t afford to just up and leave Davey use your head!” 

“Then we’ll stay on the down low! No one has to know!” Davey grabs Jack’s arm, holding it tightly. “We can date in secret!”

“No!” He pulls away leaving Davey staring at him with a sad expression on his face. 

“If you love me-“

“I don’t.” Jack buts in.

They both stand in silence for a minute whilst Davey takes it in. 

“Don’t- don’t say that. You don’t mean that.”

“I do. Your father made me realise.” Jack looks to the ground 

“That’s a lie!”

“Look,” Jack walks towards Davey, “I don’t love you anymore. You’re always in danger when i’m around, especially with Snyder after you, we’re over okay? done.”

He gives Davey sad and pleading eyes before turning around and heading down the street. What Davey doesn’t know is this would be the last time he stands next to Jack, last time they speak. 

Davey spends the next few months having to pretend that everything is okay when in reality his heart breaks a little more every time he sees Jack at work.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it :) follow me on twitter! @/KINGRACETRACK


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